Kukkagalleria: A First Bloom in Tapiola
A single ceramic flower offers a glimpse of a much larger garden to come. Installed beside Tapiola’s central pools in Espoo, a prototype of Heini Riitahuhta’s Kukkagalleria (Flower Gallery) introduces a public artwork planned for the new Kera neighbourhood.
The test piece brings the project out of the studio and into the city. It also allows the work’s technical solutions to be studied before the full installation takes shape.
An open-air gallery of forty flowers
Designed for the Dreijanportti underpass in Kera, Kukkagalleria will consist of 40 large ceramic flower reliefs. Drawing on nature and Heini’s imagination, the flowers will create a continuous visual world through this busy passage: an open-air gallery encountered on an everyday journey.
“When I close my eyes, I see many different blossoms. My aim is to fill the passage with large flowers and paint these reliefs with broad brushstrokes. Although everything is carefully considered, I am seeking a carefree, spontaneous atmosphere. The name refers to the way the works are displayed: this is an open-air gallery for everyone passing by.”
— Heini Riitahuhta
A new chapter in Kera’s ceramic history
Kera’s former industrial area is being transformed into a residential neighbourhood. Its name comes from the Kera ceramics factory that once operated there, and the area’s public art programme carries this heritage into its next chapter.
Ceramics connects all five selected artworks, with contributions by Heini Riitahuhta, Inka Bell, Tiia Matikainen, Ville Heimala and Norwegian ceramic artist and sculptor Irene Nordli. The works were selected by a joint jury from the City of Espoo and EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art. They will be installed as construction of the neighbourhood progresses.
For Henna Paunu, Chief Curator of Collections at EMMA, public art is a way to strengthen a place’s identity and reveal its history. The story of Kera’s ceramics factory has inspired each artist in a different way.
From the studio to Tapiola
The prototype was installed on the retaining wall on the western side of Tapiola’s central pools. This small part of the future work offers an intimate view of its surfaces, brushstrokes and three-dimensional form.
In Kera, that same language will grow into a much larger installation: forty flowers bringing art into the shared spaces of daily life.
